Lord Baby Runs A Romance Fantasy With Cash [EN]: Chapter 296

The name slipped out before I realized it, and I was even more surprised by my own words.

But once I said it, I felt even more certain.

“Who is it?”

He pushed aside the curtain and approached me.

It felt as though life was blooming and fading with each of his steps.

A strange sensation.

“I didn’t expect any human to still remember my name.”

He stopped abruptly when he saw my face.

He stared at me silently for a long time, then smiled.

A smile that was incredibly sad yet joyful, a smile that defied description.

“…So, it’s you.”

Swish.

As he lowered his head, his silver hair sparkled in the sunlight and fell before me.

I thought he was far away, but he was suddenly right in front of me.

A large hand brushed my cheek, as tenderly as if handling fragile glass.

“My last.”

He suddenly stopped speaking and frowned.

“Too young.”

‘I’m not *that* young.’

I looked at Aphthanes with a slightly disgruntled expression.

I’m grateful I read those PG-15 novels now.

“But if it’s you, you’ll be able to do it well enough.”

“Do what?”

Aphthanes frowned at my question.

“Didn’t they tell you anything?”

“Well, if you’re talking about your subordinate, they tricked me into a fraudulent contract and are using me.”

“A fraudulent contract…”

Aphthanes seemed deeply shocked.

I felt a little guilty after snitching on his subordinate, but compared to what that demon did to me, this is nothing.

Not long ago, Sid and I were finally setting a mood, and he sent a notification that ruined it.

“…Still, forgive them. It must have been unavoidable.”

Like superior, like subordinate.

‘Is he defending his subordinate now? Even though they committed contract fraud, of all things.’

Aphthanes smiled as he saw my sulky expression.

It was a strange smile.

He was clearly smiling brightly, but just looking at it made my heart ache.

“I think I know why you were chosen.”

“…”

“It had to be you. It must have been you, and no one else, to whom I entrusted everything.”

I quietly stared at Aphthanes.

Frankly, I didn’t expect Aphthanes, a god, to be alive and well like this.

Even all the records in the temple had his name erased, and the end of the world was approaching.

‘More than anything, a god’s power comes from faith and religious influence, right?’

So, the structure was that the more my influence as Aphthanes’ proxy increased, the more power he would regain.

‘And he would give the regained power back to me.’

In any case, since he was a god whose name had even been forgotten, I naturally assumed he wouldn’t be intact.

But.

“I have one question. Why did you set up a proxy like me instead of directly intervening in the world?”

KiyasEdel is killing people and causing various disasters, but isn’t Aphthanes being too hands-off?

“Is it because of something like causality?”

I remembered the demon saying that I was someone who could transcend the limits set by causality [the principle that all events have a cause].

“…The me here is just a fragment of the past.”

“A fragment?”

“An illusion created by sealing my memories and thoughts as they are. The me you see now is not a real entity. It’s just a remnant of the past.”

“Then this place is…”

“Yes. It’s my legacy, where a part of me is sealed.”

I thought it was strange for some reason.

A great sacred object and artifact that even the head of the family couldn’t use carelessly due to many restrictions.

If the people of the Michellouin family created it in the past, why can’t the current Michellouin create artifacts that surpass it?

Even though their experience and knowledge are much more accumulated.

At the very least, shouldn’t they be able to lift some of the restrictions?

‘But it wasn’t created by the Michellouin in the first place.’

A god’s legacy.

The Michellouin only discovered it.

“I didn’t think it would just be an ordinary knowledge report, but…”

“Knowledge report? It seems humans have taken out and used a very small part of the knowledge residing within me.”

“…”

“But there must have been great limitations. An unpermitted human would have to pay a great price just to enter this place.”

“…”

“Above all, since it’s knowledge I never gave out, it probably wasn’t very useful content.”

Useless?

The Michellouin has made great discoveries several times, leaving a deep mark on human history.

“If it’s an unpermitted human…”

“Everyone but you.”

Everyone but me…?

“This place is just an arrangement I made to meet you.”

Aphthanes smiled at me.

“I’ve been waiting for the day you would find this place.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’re not even a thousand years old yet, but you’ve already secured cooperation from the Celestial Realm, the Demonic Realm, and the Spirit Beast Realm.”

No, not a hundred, but a thousand years old.

Aphthanes stroked my head.

“And to handle the Power of Destruction at A-grade. You’ve reached the limit that a human can reach. Many said it was impossible for a human to handle the Power of Destruction this much, but you did it.”

Aphthanes looked at me with amazed and proud eyes, as if watching a newborn baby doing handstands and somersaults.

“You must have put in a lot of effort to grow this much. It must have been hard for you all this time, right?”

Hmm.

Honestly, it wasn’t that hard.

There were so many joyful things, and above all, living with my beloved family was truly happy.

‘…And I even fell in love with someone.’

Friends with whom I can share trivial chats and who step up to help with my work as if it were their own.

Working hard and achieving results, and having people who help with that.

These things may seem extremely ordinary, but I knew that they were never given naturally.

I recognize that each one is like a miracle and precious, and I am aware of how lucky and blessed my life is.

‘Of course, there were ups and downs in it.’

There were moments when I thought I was going to die, moments when I wanted to be sick instead, and many moments when I was really angry.

So, I sometimes grumble that I was tricked by that demon.

‘But I would choose this life again even if I went back to that time.’

Even if I added any benefits to another life, no matter how many times I was asked.

No, even if I added worse conditions to this life.

I would choose this life now.

But why is it.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Thud.

A large hand was placed on the crown of my head.

That weight, that softly permeating voice.

Is it because the person in front of me is a god?

Is it because of the dignity of an absolute being?

Why does hearing those words make me so…

I glared.

I absolutely didn’t want to shed tears.

I raised my head, looked at Aphthanes, and smiled brightly.

“Right? I think I’m pretty amazing myself. I’m definitely romance-fantasy female lead material.”

Aphthanes looked at me and smiled.

“You are strong.”

He took a step back from me.

“I’ve decided. I was originally going to tell you something else.”

Aphthanes’ immense power surged.

Even though that power hadn’t fully manifested to the point where it could take shape, I felt breathless and suffocated as if my chest was blocked.

“If it’s you, if it’s your vessel, you can surely handle and contain my divinity.”

I had tinnitus in my ears, and my vision blurred and cleared repeatedly.

Black energy swirled around Aphthanes’ entire body.

“You are the child I have been waiting for the most, the child I love the most.”

The next moment, I was swallowed by that darkness.

‘This is just a fragment…?’

The tremendous pressure contained in the power felt like it was crushing my soul.

And memories that were not mine flooded into me.

* * *

Aphthanes stood still and watched Ruatisha being swallowed by the darkness.

His body was becoming increasingly faint.

It was only natural since he had squeezed out all of his remaining power and given it to the child.

“…I don’t know the current me.”

Trapped here and stuck in the past, there was no way he could know.

“But I know how much the current me cherishes you.”

There were traces everywhere of him trying to do everything he could for Ruatisha, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

“I also know why the current me cherishes you so much.”

That’s probably.

“It’s the same feeling as me.”

From the beginning, Ruatisha was born with a power that was difficult for humans to endure.

He must have taken great care and effort to help Ruatisha grow to the point where she could accept it without breaking down.

Even so, divinity would be hard to endure.

His heart felt like it was being torn apart at the thought of the child suffering.

But.

‘If it’s you.’

Now, his physical body was almost invisible.

Thousands of years were ending in an instant.

‘I can give you everything. Because I believe you will do it.’

* * *

Aphthanes had a most cherished creation.

He had affection for it because it was the first creation he had made, and he felt a special fondness for it because it was the most imperfect.

KiyasEdel.

However, KiyasEdel was as greedy as she was imperfect.

“I am weaker than spirit beasts and more powerless than spirits.”

“The Celestial Race has tremendous generative power, and the Demon Race has overflowing destructive power, but I have nothing.”

“Why don’t I have such power?”

“Is it because I was created as an experiment?”

“I wish I had been created last, not first.”

Aphthanes gave much to his first creation.

But.

“It’s not enough.”

“It’s still not enough.”

KiyasEdel’s demands were endless.

Even though she had come to possess more superior power than all other creations.

“KiyasEdel, haven’t you obtained everything?”

“There are still many things I haven’t obtained.”

Aphthanes already knew.

That KiyasEdel’s comparison target was not other creations but himself, a god.

That his creation was daring to covet divinity.

‘She has become too close of an existence.’

But he couldn’t abandon this pitiful child.

It was also his fault that KiyasEdel had become like this.

“You will only make yourself unhappy by comparing yourself like that.”

He only admonished her like that, and Aphthanes did not punish KiyasEdel.

The moment he simply buried KiyasEdel’s greed, the tragedy of the future may have already been decided.

KiyasEdel hated the last creation Aphthanes made.

Humans.

“Weak and pathetic humans! Why do you care so much about them?”

“If you had given me the blessings you gave to humans…!”

In fact, humans were not entities that KiyasEdel needed to care about.

Humans were too weak compared to her, and they died too easily.

Beings who couldn’t stand alone and had to stick together.

But seeing how much KiyasEdel cared and hated them, she may have instinctively known.

What kind of heart Aphthanes created his last creation with.

Or maybe she didn’t know at all.

That is.

“It’s all because of you.”

Thwack!

A spear made of crimson evil energy pierced Aphthanes’ chest.

His divinity was already damaged.

His body, gnawed at by the turbid and corrupted evil energy, did not move properly.

KiyasEdel laughed as she looked at him.

“Foolish, Aphthanes, my creator.”

“If you hadn’t created humans, you wouldn’t have been defeated by me.”

“The world would have relied on you, believed in you, and praised you, so no matter how many tricks I used, I wouldn’t have dared to reach you.”

“But how is it? Look at your current state.”

“Humans have forgotten their gratitude to you. Their greed and arrogance have made you a weak being. All the reason you have fallen to the ground to the point where you can be defeated by me is because of humans!”

“The very fact that you created such creations means that you don’t deserve to be a god.”

“Don’t worry. I will absorb all of your power and now reign over this world as the true god.”

Aphthanes looked at KiyasEdel, who was consumed by madness and possessed by greed for power, with pitiful eyes.

“KiyasEdel, my first child.”

“Still!”

KiyasEdel gritted her teeth.

“Even in this state, you’re looking at me with those eyes! Face reality! I am now much stronger than you!”

Thwack!

The blade of betrayal tore through Aphthanes’ heart.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack.

Again and again, again and again.

“Pitiful, KiyasEdel. It won’t go as you wish.”

“Shut up!”

“You will be born from me, the one you hate the most, and perish at the hands of the humans you despise the most.”

“Shut up!”

Slash.

The tip of the spear cut Aphthanes’ mouth.

“Even though you’re dying… I just need to wipe out those humans and get rid of them!”

KiyasEdel tore Aphthanes into ninety-nine pieces and killed him.

So that he could never be resurrected again.

So that he could never regain his divinity.

So that his lineage would never be maintained.

Aphthanes’ name disappeared from all human records.

KiyasEdel was satisfied.

Finally, finally, she had obtained what she wanted!

However, there was something KiyasEdel had overlooked.

The sin of killing a god bound KiyasEdel’s body and soul more strongly than any other shackle.

She had no choice but to sink into a deep quagmire, deprived of all her power.

But she did not give up.

She was waiting for the day when she would gradually regain her power and crawl back onto this land.